Trailing its successful thrust into the consumer arena, Acer is aiming at the small business market. And though the market promises growth for big players, unless Acer can take on Goliath, it may hit the wall a few times.

The company first tackled that segment of the server market last October by unveiling the Acer Altos 930 Server. This week, the company is releasing a network-ready version of the server with Internet, Web and communications software that sells for under $5,000.

The small business market for LANs and servers will grow from $2.5 billion in …